Tesla struggling in ‘production hell’

Electric cars are becoming more and more common on UK roads. It’s no longer odd to see a car drive past without making so much as a whisper, and with electric car technology becoming better by the day, we should expect this to become the norm.

The UK government has already realized the need to cut back on pollution producing petrol cars. They have set a deadline for car producers wishing to trade in the UK – three-fifths of new cars must be electric by 2030.

It’s an ambitious target, and many argue that significant improvements to the UK’s infrastructure need to be made before electric cars can be fully integrated into everyday life.

One of the main names you might think of when you think of electric cars is Tesla. The brainchild of extravagant billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, Tesla is one of the main companies making great strides towards the technology of the future. Their first production car, the Roadster, was a fairly niche sports car, and didn’t do so well in terms of sales, selling only 2,250 models.

In their next model, Tesla produced a car that better suited the ‘average’ consumer. The Model S was still a fairly sporty car, but was a more realistic car to be driving day to day. It also featured one of Tesla’s most ambitious technologies – autopilot. This is a setting where you can take your hands off the wheel and feet off the pedals while cruising down the motorway and the Model S will keep your speed and lane.

The Model S, however, was still out of reach of the average consumer. With a price tag starting at around £65,000, it can certainly be considered a luxury vehicle.

Enter the Tesla Model 3. This is Tesla’s first step towards making an affordable electric car with all the technologies of the Model S. But Tesla is having troubles with production of the Model 3, struggling to keep to deadlines for the pre-orders of the car. Elon Musk has called his current predicament ‘production hell’, as he tries to sustain a level of production that will work for the company in the long run.

At launch, Musk had promised 5,000 Model 3s a week. At the moment, he is just about managing 2,000. All the while, the vultures are circling.

Jaguar are about to release their i-pace, a fully electric 4×4 with similar luxuries to the model 3. BMW have been fairly successful with their i3 and i5 models, and Nissan is still enjoying a fair degree of success with their Leaf model.

Tesla need to step up their game if they are to maintain their position as a prominent electric car manufacturer.

They are in danger of slipping into the background as other, better-established producers adopt their technologies on a more workable scale.

With the government deadline set for 2030, there’s a lot of work to be done by Tesla to keep up.